I do not consider myself to be very knowledgeable when it comes to understanding high principles of business such as the economy.  Outside of some basic classes that I took in college, much of my understanding is remedial.  Since the term "economy" has been used so much in the news lately, I found this article (thanks to my friend Greg) to be very helpful.    Here is one quote from the article that really struck me.  "How did it happen that the nation’s economic hero is a terminal-cancer patient going through a costly divorce?"  If this doesn’t make sense I would encourage you to read this article as it gives a basis for understanding what is going on in the economy.

Our Phony Economy by Jonathan Rowe

Posted: August 23rd, 2008 under Family.
Comments: 1

 It was time for a change.   I think I had been wearing the short bob since just after our wedding (almost 4 years ago).  I wanted to go  short for the summer, and I put my hair in the hands of Shannon at Blown Away Salon.  For the last few years I had been a regular at one of the mega-chains, offering ten buck haircuts.  This time, I felt I wanted something more than just a haircut.  I needed a new style.  Several women at church go to Blown Away, and I know the owners are also strong Christians.  For the last 2 days, I haven’t been able to get it to look exactly like Shannon did, but I am working on it. 

Posted: July 3rd, 2008 under Family.
Comments: 3

We had our first delivery of a new service last week.  Some people at church told us about a company called Farm Fresh Delivery.  It is a company that delivers locally grown and organic fruits and vegetables to your house every week or every other week.  We opted for the every other week option, and we may adjust it once we see how much we can eat.  The first bin was waiting for us on our front porch when we got home from Vacation Bible School.  It was full of some of the most delicious fair-trade bananas I have ever tasted.  (And I used to not even like eating bananas!)

We hope that this will help us to keep more fresh fruits and veggies in the house.  It already has expanded our taste buds, in that we both ate a pluot this past week.  I almost deleted it from our bin (you can customize your bin each week before it is delivered), since I didn’t know what it was.  Then I looked it up on Google, and found out it was a cross between a plum and an apricot.  It was tasty - very juicy and sweet!  Now we just have to put the reusable bin back on our porch next week, and they will replace it with a new bin full of wonderful fresh food!

The other neat thing about this service is that we can get groceries from them as well, such as fresh baked breads, yogurt, cheese, eggs and meat.  It again all comes from local farmers and artisans.  We’ll have to try that soon and let you know how it goes!  The youth director I share an office with says she hardly has to go to the grocery store anymore!  Sounds like a good plan to me. 

Posted: July 1st, 2008 under Family.
Comments: none

This weekend I was privileged to officiate at the wedding of a close friend of mine at the Mirasol Club in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.   The wedding ceremony was beautiful and I am proud to say that Andrew and Jennifer are married and probably enjoying a beach in Jamaica right now.  The setting for the wedding was beautiful, although we were not able to hold the ceremony outside due to the weather.  The wedding coordinator and I had a small disagreement in planning where the wedding party should be standing during the service.  Doesn’t that seem silly?  While a detail like this may seem small, I realized that our argument was not really about what is most visually appealing to those in attendance (and the photographer) but we had a fundamental difference in what the service was all about.    She thought that the wedding ceremony was more like a civil union.  To her this was a formal ceremony in which the couple becomes officially married according to the state.  While that is part of the purpose for the ceremony, it is far from the real purpose.  The central theme in any wedding is not some romantic notion about the love that is shared between the bride and the groom, but rather it is a celebration of the love of God that has brought them together and to seek God’s blessing for the life together as husband and wife.  The wedding coordinator, while very professional and good at what she does, wanted to cut God out of the service as much as possible.  She seemed to disregard the fact that this was a religious ceremony and that it would not only be for the couple, but for the gathered community.  I am thankful that Andrew and Jennifer choose to have a religious wedding instead of a civil union.  They were very deliberate in choosing the scriptures for the service and they even added the element of unity sand, which was the first time I had come across this tradition.  The symbolism of the unity sand is like a unity candle, except that it more accurately shows the blending of two families.  Also, it can be used for a longer period of time unlike the unity candle which you can only use until it burns out.

Congratulations Andrew and Jen, may God bless you all the days of your marriage!

Posted: June 23rd, 2008 under Family.
Comments: none

“But Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinner. — Matthew 9:13

I have a confession to make: I have watched more reality contest TV shows recently than I care to admit. It doesn’t matter if the contestants are singing, dancing, or performing some rare talent to follow their dreams or win big prize money, the shows seem to draw me in by their interesting characters. In the early rounds of the competition there is a great divide in the level of skill of the contestants. Some people have great talent and they are able to amaze the judges by their innovation and creativity. Others seem to be grossly misled TV. by family and friends to believe that they have what it takes to be a star. Some contestants have been working for decades to hone and perfect their talent, preparing for the moment to perform in front of talent scouts. Others have been putting their routine together for a few hours with the hopes of just making it onto
Regardless of the talent of the contestants, I would never want to be a judge. Read more »

Posted: June 5th, 2008 under Church.
Comments: none

We have started a new family tradition of a Memorial Day-Weekend Home Improvement Project. Last year, we finished the garage by hanging drywall, installing a peg board, and painting. One year later, the garage is still organized and I love it. With one project under our belt, we decided to go for a project that was a little bit bigger this year: A paver patio. After many months of planning and picking the right paver for the project, the gravel and sand showed up. The picture does not do it justice, because the mounds are bigger than they seemed. Bob and Barb came over again to help with the project, but we needed even more help than just they could provide. Some great friends of ours, Mark and Linda Seifert, Greg and Kristin Marshall, Gordon and Martha Helms, and Chris Renner spent the day digging, hauling, and leveling the dirt. After a little over a day of work, the patio was finished! We found some nice patio furniture at Home Dept and a fire pit at Target. We are ready to host a backyard party for our friends now. Last night we grilled out for the first time and enjoyed a nice meal on the patio. There are many more pictures of this project in our gallery. We are very fortunate to have the help and support of so many people during this project. It would have taken so long with the help of our family and friends.

Posted: June 3rd, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1

In January, we had the opportunity to visit some very good friend, Jared and Laura Carson. They are currently serving First Lutheran Church in Torrence California. While we were there we visited the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Hollywood is only one of the many things that we did. We tasted wine in the Temecula Valley. We went to Disneyland, went whale watching, saw the Crystal Cathedral. The picture of Jared saving me as taken outside of the Roman

Catholic Cathedral in LA.

When we return to LA, I definitely want to eat at Phillip’s, the home of the original French Dip sandwich. If you would like to see some of the other highlights from our trip, check out the gallery.

However, the best part of the trip was the memories that we made with our great friends.

Posted: May 30th, 2008 under Travel.
Comments: none